Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Kissinger Tells a Joke

Found here, p. 458, in a discussion of the Arab boycott and a problem that developed in getting up contracts with Saudi businesses to tighten or U.S.-Saudi relations

Minutes of the Secretary of State’s Staff MeetingWashington, February 26, 1975, 8 a.m. MR. ROBINSON: We have the Saudi Arabian Commission meeting
starting here in a few minutes. We have run into a problem. The
problem is developing over the exclusion of Jews from any of these
contractual arrangements. We are going to have to try to work it out.
And I think there are solutions. But it is going to create— SECRETARY KISSINGER: Like what? Like Faisal converting? That
way he can also go to Jerusalem...

...SECRETARY KISSINGER: Get that word around, will you, McCloskey. We are against discrimination on the grounds of race and religion. MR. ROBINSON: It is going to be a problem.

Of course, as Kissinger should have known, and Sadat's 1977 visit later proved it, there was no problem with the King visiting Jerusalem.There is, however, still is a problem with Jews visiting Mecca, not to mention the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

__________

P.S.Two pages later, we read:

Congressman Waxman, who was not a member
of the House Foreign Armed Forces Committee, got onto the Committee’s tour of the Middle East apparently solely to raise the question of
visas for Jews. He asked King Faisal why Jews were not permitted
freely into the Kingdom and the King asked why they would want to
come. Most Jews, said the King, support Israel.

About Me

American born, my wife and I moved to Israel in 1970. We have lived at Shiloh together with our family since 1981. I was in the Betar youth movement in the US and UK. I have worked as a political aide to Members of Knesset and a Minister during 1981-1994, lectured at the Academy for National Studies 1977-1994, was director of Israel's Media Watch 1995-2000 and currently, I work at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. I was a guest media columnist on media affairs for The Jerusalem Post, op-ed contributor to various journals and for six years had a weekly media show on Arutz 7 radio. I serve as an unofficial spokesperson for the Jewish Communities in Judea & Samaria.